Francis Naginno may have had the best loss a professional boxer has ever seen. Now he's got Anthony Joshua.
The former UFC heavyweight champion will face the former unified heavyweight champion in a 10-round bout on Friday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, five months after Ngannou earned the respect of the boxing world with a split decision loss to WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.
Ngannou entered that Fury bout as a heavy underdog against the champion — one promoter called the matchup “a disgrace” — but he distinguished himself from many MMA fighter-turned-boxers. A seasoned heavyweight contender. He knocked Fury down in the third round and had his name chanted in the final round.
The Cameroonian is again an underdog against Joshua, but a very close one +230 at BetMGM (He's +800 vs Fury).
Meanwhile, Joshua comes into this fight at an interesting point in his career. It's been 2 1/2 years since he lost his titles to Oleksandr Usyk and 18 months since falling in a rematch. He has won three in a row against Jermaine Franklin, Robert Helenius and Otto Wallin, but he may have to wait a while if he ever wants another title shot. For now, he's getting boxing's newest rising star in Nagano and the paycheck that comes with it.
The co-main event features an intriguing bout between WBO interim heavyweight champion Zhilei Zhang and Joseph Parker. WBC featherweight champion Rey Vargas faces undefeated prospect Nick Paul on the undercard.
Follow our live blog below as the fighting in Saudi Arabia winds down:
Francis Ngannou vs. Anthony Joshua full card results, odds (start time 11 am ET, DAZN PPV)
Heavyweight: Anthony Joshua (-300) vs Francis Naginno (+240)
Heavyweight: Jie Zhang (-225) vs. Joseph Parker (+188)
Super Welterweight Championship: Israel Matrymov (-400) vs. Magomed Gurbanov (+300)
Featherweight Championship: Rey Vargas vs. Nick Paul
Lightweight: Gavin Quinn (-300) vs. Mark Chamberlain (+250)
Super Welterweight: Jack McCann (-275) vs. Louis Green (+225)
Heavyweight: Justice Huni (-500) vs. Kevin Lerena (+400)
Heavyweight: Andre Nowitzki (-2500) vs. Juan Torres (+1000)
Super Lightweight: Ziad Almayouf vs. Christian Lopez Flores
Heavyweight: Roman Fury (-1400) vs. Martin Schwarz (+1100)
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